Canadian Evangelical audio program comes out in favour of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill. Sort of.

Well, perhaps it isn’t a coming out per-se, since it’s questionable as to whether they were ever “in.” But RoadKill Radio commentators Kari Simpson and Ron Gray have more or less made their position known on Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill during an interview with Christian Heritage Party leader Jim Hnatiuk, who tacitly agreed. The interview highlighted the growing antipathy among Canadian Evangelicals toward Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Office of Religious Freedom, which will be a topic for another post. But here’s what they said (starts at 4:54 in the video):

SIMPSON: The Minister responsible for this Office of Religious Freedom is Minister Baird, am I not right? And Minister Baird has recently been in the news for two important issues. Wasn’t he the one who condemned and vilified a Christian organization that received $500,000 in funding to help drill wells in… a third-world country… because they had issues related to Biblical truths on homosexuality on their website? And is this same Minister Baird who’s responsible for this Office of Religious Freedom that I believe gave $200,000 to a group in Uganda to fight Christians that were trying to bring in laws that would help curb the epidemic of death as related to AIDS and HIV in that country…

GRAY: And the only country in sub-Saharan Africa that has succeeded in reducing the rate of AIDS in…

The first organization Simpson referred to was Crossroads, of course, and the issue about Crossroads’ website statement on homosexuality was that those kinds of views have been fueling the anti-gay hatred that led to the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, and an intensified environment of homophobic hatred and violence in Uganda. The second group referenced is an initiative to counter the anti-gay fear and hatred pervading that nation.

The Anti-Homosexuality Bill has been more commonly referred to as the “Kill the Gays” bill, although there is some debate about whether the death penalty will still be in the final draft. Here are the other things it contains:

A definition of “aggravated homosexuality” which is overly-broad. If the death sentence remains in the bill, then aggravated homosexuality is the charge to which it would apply. Proponents of the bill represent aggravated homosexuality as referring to pedophilia, but it actually also includes people who are afflicted with HIV (whether they were aware of it or not), who have sex with a person who has a disability (whether the act was consensual or not), and “serial” commission of any of the included and overly-vague offenses) — having gay sex more than once would be included;

A 3-year sentence for officiating a same-sex marriage, and a life sentence for being in a same-sex marriage or presenting a same-sex partner as a spouse (it’s not specified whether said marriage needs to occur in Uganda, but keep reading…);

The criminalization of anyone who fails to report in under 24 hours anyone who is gay, who witnessed a same-sex wedding, who rents a room to a gay person, who advocates for LGBT people, or who commits any of the other above acts, with a sentence of up to 3 years;

The criminalization of any of the above offences regardless of whether or not they occur in Uganda, provided they involve a Ugandan citizen, or a portion of the offense occurs within Uganda (i.e. the “failure to report” part). Extradition demands are also included;

Male homosexuality has been illegal in Uganda since colonial British rule in the 19th Century, and is already punishable by up to life imprisonment. In 2000, wording was amended so that lesbianism could be criminalized as “gross indecency between two persons of the same sex,” which carries a term of seven years’ imprisonment. So all of the above are in addition to this status quo.

So that’s the bill that Kari Simpson and Ron Gray are cheering on. While it’s possible that they are unaware of some or all of the things in that bill, I’d consider it unlikely, given their converations with Scott Lively, who has been an occasional interviewee at RKR and who advocates for things like total criminalization of LGBT advocacy.

In West and Central Africa, Ghana was at the top of the list with a drop of 66% followed by Burkina Faso at 60% and Djibouti at 58%. The Central African Republic, Gabon, Rwanda and Togo, achieved significant declines of more than 50%. Other countries with significant declines in the region include Burundi, Cameroon, Mali and Sierra Leone where the decline was more than one third. Ethiopia achieved a 90% reduction in the rate of new HIV infections in the last decade. Despite a 25% reduction in sub-Saharan Africa, the region accounted for 72% of all new HIV infections worldwide in 2011.

In fact, the report has indicated that Uganda’s problem with HIV has been getting worse, and attributes it to declining condom use.

Nice hatchet job – you never disappoint. Of course, Simpson and Gray said absolutely nothing anti-gay, but so nice of you to spin it that way nonetheless. Their focus was that the Office of Religious Freedom is headed by a religious bigot – particularly an anti-Christian bigot – and as Christians, they have a problem with that. But go ahead, keep on hating… why should we expect anything different from you?

denying one a license to badger people to a point of harassment (i.e. blocking, shaming and vitriol outside abortion clinics) or incitement (i.e. papering campuses and neighbourhoods with conflations between being gay and pedophilia, graphic portrayals of anal warts, etc, a la Whatcott), or

denying one the ability to deliberately disenfranchise people by denying them a job, a home or access to amenities / services.

Losing the ability to dictate everyone else’s lives to them or drive people into hiding is not the same thing as persecution.

I believe in Canadians’ rights to their faiths (including but not limited to the many variants of Christianity), to openly practice their faiths (though not to the limit of deliberate infringement on the rights of others), and yes, to speak their faiths (though not to the limit of harassment or incitement). If, on the other hand, I sought to do the same things that RKR folks would like — that is, to ban Christian Pride events (they happen every Sunday), fire people because they’re Christian, urge people of faith to be deprogrammed, claim that all religious people were child molesters… then yes, that would be anti-Christian.

But I don’t. My issue is with narrow tenets of an extreme brand of faith that attempts to pass itself off as being what all of “Christianity” is.

Do you, on the other hand, believe in LGBT peoples’ rights to be gay or trans, to openly express who they are in public, and to speak openly about their lives and views? Say it with a straight face next time you’re seeking to ban a kids’ book that says it’s okay to have two dads, or saying that extending human rights to trans people will legalize sexual assaults on women and children.

First of all, trans folk have human rights, so get off that soap box. Gays do, too. It’s wanting MORE rights than other people that just doesn’t sit well with some.

The rights of Christians are being attacked (you do a fine job yourself) by the twisting of facts. Whatcott was fired, fined, physically assaulted, banned from living in his own house, and officially denied his freedom of speech – all because other people didn’t like his opinions.

Opinions. Free speech. You have them, so why can’t Whatcott? In fact, Whatcott sticks to facts, while you exaggerate and even lie to make your points. But go ahead, it’s your right to be wrong (until the SCC strips you of your right to free speech, as well).

Example of your twisting of facts: the “Christian Pride” events that you cite do not cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars, nor promote activity that maims and kills our youth and costs millions more in taxpayer dollars in medical costs every year.

And get off the book-banning meme. RKR (Simpson) never opposed the Surrey 3 books; she opposed a one-sided curriculum that failed to warn of ANY negative ramifications of the gay lifestyle. She’s very clearly on record as supporting balanced LGBT information that will encourage health, life, civility, and equality for all. She’s even offered a bounty to anyone who can prove otherwise.

As for me, I’ve taken the slurs and beatings of anti-gay bigots my whole life, and I recognize their narrow-minded hatred in your hurtful words, as well. Try a little love, sympathy, and empathy for your fellow humans for a change. Stop lying to make made-up points. You think you’re clever and heroic, but you’re just mean and underhanded.

Nope. It’s about wanting to see a doctor without being refused treatment (which happens to trans people — I regularly get requests from folks who have been in this situation). It’s about being a model employee with excellent evaluations for years, and then suddenly being laid off as a “troublemaker” when transitioning. It’s about trying to make schools safe for kids who are experiencing the same outright harassment and violence that I once did. It’s about wanting to spread awareness so that spouses, families, friends and society don’t reject people because they’re LGBT. You can pretend that these things don’t happen, but I encounter people who experience them daily.

I have no problem with a person living, believing and conducting their lives as they wish to — just do not infringe on others’ ability to do the same.

“… Whatcott was fired, fined, physically assaulted, banned from living in his own house, and officially denied his freedom of speech – all because other people didn’t like his opinions.”

I don’t support assaulting anyone, and wouldn’t support firing them for their beliefs — although if they were regularly harassing people with those beliefs to the point where it created a hostile workplace for others, that becomes a different story. Where Bill Whatcott oversteps is fliering neighbourhoods and campuses with claims that gays assault children and graphic depictions that make a hostile environment inevitable. In most cases, I do not support bans: I would rather (as I’ve done above) point out others’ agendas and bigotry, and challenge it. I believe that to be more effective.

“Example of your twisting of facts: the “Christian Pride” events that you cite do not cost hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars”

You do realize that Christian-focused charities, schools, Christmas celebrations and programs receive far more government funding than any Pride parade ever could, right?

“activity that maims and kills our youth and costs millions more in taxpayer dollars in medical costs every year.”

Seriously? Citations, please. And if you’re talking about HIV, keep in mind that unprotected sex is a greater factor than sexual orientation in its spread, and silencing the “gay agenda” doesn’t address that.

“… She’s very clearly on record as supporting balanced LGBT information that will encourage health, life, civility, and equality for all. She’s even offered a bounty to anyone who can prove otherwise.”

That’s because she defines “balanced” as arriving at a conclusion in which LGBT people are mentally ill, need to be cured and are a medical threat to society.

You’re right, we’ll never agree. You’re too focused on cherry picking parts of the truth – and making up your own “facts” – so that you always “win” your argument. I guess you like the role of victim too much. Sad.

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